World Naked Bike Ride

Oops! An estimated

group of 1000 cyclists, both men and women, took their clothes off in London on Saturday to cycle along the busy streets, while marking the World Naked Bike Ride Event.

Most of the 60-million-strong inhabitants of Britain, a nation which takes the public nudity very seriously, may not be prepared to let the mathematically-insignificant minority get away with the feat lightly, despite being blessed by the absence of their garments for that matter, though. The main stream media, at best, is not amused and at worst, is aghast.

The naked cyclists are not just fun-seekers, according to the organizers. On the contrary, they are on a noble mission: in fact, they are protesting against our oil dependency and the lack of safe roads for cyclists.

According to them, the protest has two parts: the naked part, which symbolises the vulnerability of the road users and the wrapped-up part, in which the steely determination of those who participate, is sacredly hidden in the psychological realm inside a casket of collective passion.

The participants could opt for a lighter form of garments, though – a simple bra, loose knickers as small as Eve’s palm or pairs of suspenders - if they feel uneasy before thousands of onlookers in a major global city, according to those who managed the event. The preferred mode, however, is going au naturale.

The public reaction to the particular protest is somewhat mixed, but not bordering on outrage at all, as some expected: some certainly did baffle a giggle on seeing the columns of protestors with a perfect display of anatomical symmetry on cycle seats with the unmissable cleavage, which managed to polarize both the two pink halves and the public opinion alike; older Britons, the more conservative ones, cupped the eyes of little kids as if a monster was on the loose in the vicinity; the young mothers, meanwhile, quite unnecessarily point their fingers at London’s famous landmarks in rapid succession in order to divert the burning curiosity of the agile offspring.

There is no denying the fact, however, that there were plenty of people who just came to see the episode with their own eyes, having got the wind of the rare spectacle through the social media. They had been lining the streets in anticipation of the rare culmination of naked cyclists in their birthday suits.

As a result, lane restrictions were in place on Marble Arch and Regent Street in Central London, in order to accommodate the army of onlookers. The Transport for London, meanwhile, warned the public in advance about the potential delays of buses.

As with any protest movement, the WNBR – World Naked Bike Ride – was not immune from being hijacked by ‘extremists’. The organizers had sensed that the threat of intrusion could come in the form of taking the clothes off too early – far earlier than the ‘auspicious’ time. So, the organizers lost no time before issuing the clear advice to the fervent participants: “Don’t get naked before the official start of the ride.”

The reaction, not the knee-jerk one, of course, from the other environmental groups is rather measured. Friends-of-the-Earth, for instance, see the naked bike ride being more amusing than effective. They, however, applaud the bare-faced cheek of those who took part in the naked bike ride.

There are riders who have been encouraged by the reaction of both shoppers and tourists, while cycling along London streets naked. They say that they were treated like Royalty rather than mere protestors. Having been emboldened by the adventure, most of the protesters are going to repeat the event in other major British cities in the summer. They could not hide the delight at the onset of warmer weather in London – and by strange coincidence. They are the protectors of nature, after all and nature seems to have unleashed its full blessings on them.

Given the scale of the naked ambition, it makes sense to define World Naked Bike Ride – WNBR – as a process rather than an event, despite the spontaneous nature of the spectacle at a pre-arranged time. Definitely, there had been a good planning; it is not easy to persuade, otherwise sane men and women to take their clothes off in London – and in broad daylight; it is even more challenging to nurture a passion in the participants for an environmental cause, as most of the existing ones, if not all, are gradually losing steam for hyping things up in the past quite aggressively.

The development that we saw on Saturday clearly shows that the naked phenomenon is going to evolve dramatically in the coming months as a process, far beyond the shores of Britain. In Europe, where nudity is treated merely as a way of life, the movement is going to draw a lot of publicity for the cause they fight for while displaying the bare skin.

- Asian 

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